Pilot study of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a therapeutic intervention for Tourette Syndrome

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Tourette Syndrome; Neurological - Other neurological disorders; Human Genetics and Inherited Disorders - Other human genetics and inherited disorders

• Registration Number: ACTRN12615000592549
• Lead Sponsor: niversity of New South Wales

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2015-06-05
• Last Update Posted: 13 January 2020

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 8

Inclusion Criteria

1. Participant aged over 12 years.
2. Participant meets criteria for a primary diagnosis of DSM-5 Tourette’s Disorder: presence of multiple motor and one or more vocal tics which have persisted for more than one year with onset before 18 years of age (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
3. Participants taking psychotropic medications to manage tics will be included as long as the dose had been stable for at least six weeks prior to participation, with no planned changes during the course of the study.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Unacceptable risk factors for unsafe administration or side effects of tDCS (implanted cranial devices; previous head or brain injury; skin lesions on scalp at proposed electrode sites; epilepsy or history of seizures; drug abuse).
2. Participants who are not fluent in English will be excluded from the trial for safety reasons. It is usually not possible to have an interpreter readily available every weekday for up to four weeks and it is not safe to administer tDCS to a participant who cannot immediately inform us of any side effects (e.g., development of skin irritation during stimulation).
3. Participant has a primary psychiatric or medical diagnosis apart from Tourette's Disorder. While participants with comorbidities commonly associated with a primary diagnosis of Tourette's Disorder (such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) will not be excluded, those with any major psychiatric conditions such as psychosis, bipolar disorder etc will be excluded.
4. Pregnancy.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS; Woods, Piacentini, Himle, & Chang, 2005)[For all participants, the PUTS will be administered at baseline, week 3, week 6, week 9, and then three months and six months post-treatment.];The Parent/Self Tic Questionnaire (PTQ; Chang, Himle, Tucker, Woods, & Piacentini, 2009)[For all participants, the PTQ will be administered at baseline, week 3, week 6, week 9, and then three months and six months post-treatment.];The National Hospital Interview Schedule for the assessment of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (NHIS) which includes the Yale Global Tic Severity Rating Scale (Robertson & Eapen, 1996)[For all participants, the NHIS, including the YGTSS, will be administered at baseline. The YGTSS will be administered at week 3, week 6, week 9, and then three months and six months post-treatment.]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
aboratory-based assessment of inhibitory function will be assessed by a task based on the foreperiod go/no-go task introduced by Los (2013).[For all participants, inhibitory function will be assessed at baseline, week 3, week 6, week 9, and six months post-treatment.]